Winemaker's Notes
While to many of you, I seemed to be apologetic for the 1999 Pinot Noirs at this time last year, they have developed well beyond my own expectations. They have also enjoyed the highest critical praise any of our wines have ever gotten (kind of scary). From the experimental clonal lots that yielded the 1999 ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Little Sister’, I was able to take what I learned, refine it, and apply it. I was able to pick and choose from the clones trusting my sense of what the raw material would bring to the blend. Rather than vinifying them separately, most of the clones were blended in the fermenter, becoming a unit from birth (or rather, from conception). Overall, this 2000 RRV reminds me of the 1999 ‘Big Brother’ with some of the pretty tones of the 1999 ‘Little Sister.’ (You’ll be happy to know I didn’t even think of calling it Hermaphrodite’…till now.) There is just enough grip and guts to make this a serious wine that will benefit from some bottle age. Bottled in early February, it should probably be showing really well by Fathers’ day this year and showing off by the fall and winter holidays. Fun to drink in the shorter term, I do expect this wine to develop well for 4 to 8 years, depending on your storage.
Judi Scherrer –
Connoisseurs’ Guide – November 2002
Led by lavishly oaked aromas of vanilla, toast, bacon and sweet ripe cherries, this rich and many-layered Pinot gets off to a fine start in the mouth as well with like-minded flavors that are long on fruit and sweet oak spice. For all of its involving richness and range, however, the wine runs into limiting acidity in the latter going and winds up unnecessarily tart and tangy at the finish. A good wine that should benefit by a bit of cellaring, it would be better served by less intrusive acids. One puff, 87 points.
Judi Scherrer –
Vinous – August 2017
The 2000 Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley) is one of the best wines I have tasted from Scherrer. Impossibly young for its age, the 2000 is, frankly, a revelation. Sweet, perfumed and beautifully layered, the 2000 has arrived at a gorgeous plateau of maturity. It should drink well for at least another five years, maybe more. 92 points. Antonio Galloni